This application relates to the art of tires and, more particularly, to arrangements for suppressing tire noise. The invention is particularly applicable for use in selectively rotating mold halves relative to one another to a position that suppresses tire noise. However, it will be appreciated that the invention has broader aspects and can be used for other purposes such as positioning individual tire tread ribs or portions of ribs and for positioning segments of molds.
Various arrangements have been used for positioning tire tread sections relative to one another in a manner that suppresses noise when the tire rolls in engagement with a pavement. Many of the prior procedures cannot analyze all conceivable relative positions between the tire sections and require a significant degree of subjective judgment for determining the relative position of the tire sections. Therefore, the prior procedures are often very time consuming and sometimes inaccurate. It would be desirable to have a procedure for minimizing the degree of subjective judgment involved in relatively positioning the tire segments and that is capable of rapidly analyzing virtually all conceivable relative positions between the tire sections.